The morning after Udgir’s trial broke clean and cold.

  Arjun stood at the edge of the ruins, looking back one final time. Where once lay a haunted plaza now remained only a field of cracked stone and silence, touched by new sunlight. The air smelled of dust and something ancient finally laid to rest.

  The group said little as they made camp a few miles out, each of them nursing wounds—some visible, others not.

  Ayra tended to Elaran’s bruised ribs while Raaka sharpened his axe with slow, deliberate strokes. Even the usually cheerful Yumi was quiet, plucking petals from a strange yellow flower she’d picked from a grave.

  But Arjun remained still.

  He stared into the distance like a man listening to something only he could hear.

  Because he was.

  > [System Message: Karmic Wave Detected]

  The world has begun to notice your actions. Threads shift. Names echo.

  > [Karmic Authority Increased: Tier I Influence Over Destiny Nodes]

  You may now affect minor events in fate-linked locations.

  He breathed slowly, letting the message fade.

  “I feel it,” he murmured. “Like I’ve stepped onto a stage bigger than I was meant for.”

  Ayra looked up. “You always were meant for more, Arjun. You just didn’t know it yet.”

  “Or maybe I’m faking it until I break something again.”

  She smiled gently. “Sometimes that’s the only way gods are born.”

  But before he could reply, a soft chime echoed in his mind—different from the usual system tone. This one was melodic, almost... divine.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  > [Title Granted: The Nameless Flame]

  You have rejected roles and forged your own. You are a flame that burns through fate. Others will begin to feel your presence. Some will seek you. Some will fear you.

  > [Warning: Marked by the Watchers of Karma]

  A Council of Celestial Beings has taken notice. You are now classified as an “Anomaly.”

  Arjun closed his eyes. “It begins.”

  Raaka lifted an eyebrow. “More riddles?”

  “No,” Arjun replied, rising to his feet. “More hunters.”

  A sound split the quiet: the beating of wings—not birds, but massive and unnatural. The trees bent with their force as a figure descended from above, cloaked in a shroud of mist.

  She landed softly, barefoot on the grass, silver anklets chiming.

  Her eyes were hidden behind a band of starlight. Her skin shimmered like dusk. And in her hands she held a scroll sealed with threads of fate.

  The group jumped to their feet, weapons ready.

  But Arjun raised a hand. “Don’t.”

  She bowed.

  “I am called Vesha, Messenger of the Watchers. I bring no blade—only burden.”

  Arjun stepped forward. “Then speak.”

  Vesha unrolled the scroll. The threads unwound like whispers.

  “You have disrupted a destined loop. Udgir was not meant to awaken. You were not meant to pass untouched.”

  “Should I have let myself be broken?” Arjun asked.

  “No,” she said. “You were meant to choose. But you... refused.”

  The air around her pulsed.

  “And for that, they name you a Firebrand. You have three warnings. This is the first.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What happens after three?”

  “You are removed. Or rewritten.”

  Ayra stepped between them. “Try it, and I will unmake your threads myself.”

  Vesha chuckled softly. “It is not I who judges. I only watch. And warn.”

  She turned to Arjun. “You are invited to the Interstice. A place between fates. There, answers may be found—or more questions.”

  > [New System Quest: The Interstice Beckons]

  Optional. Travel to the Interstice within 7 days. Rewards: Hidden System Feature Access.

  Vesha vanished into mist.

  No sound. No trace.

  Just tension, thick in the air.

  Raaka let out a slow whistle. “I miss the days when we only had to fight bandits and wolves.”

  Yumi finally spoke. “Why does it always come back to gods and destiny?”

  Arjun didn’t answer.

  Because deep inside, he knew—

  The Karmic Throne had chosen him not for who he was, but for what he might become. And the System, for all its logic, couldn’t see his heart. Couldn’t feel the rage that still boiled. The sorrow. The longing for something more than titles and trials.

  He wasn’t just fighting fate.

  He was fighting everything that tried to define him before he defined himself.

  That night, sleep did not come easily.

  And when it did, it brought dreams of burning scrolls, cracked thrones, and nine veiled figures watching him from beyond the stars.

  Each one whispered his name.

  And in the end, one voice spoke louder than all:

  > “You cannot run forever, Arjun. Even flames need fuel. What will you burn next to keep going?”